Here we've collected a series of stories or case studies of work our community has done in the past few years.

Origins

Grassroots Mapping becomes Public Lab

The success of the grassroots mapping effort galvanized Public Lab’s founders to create a new research and social space for the development of low cost tools that enable community based environmental monitoring and research. By focusing on DIY, open-source tools, Public Lab takes science out of its ivory tower, making technology something anyone can develop, good science something anyone can do, and empowering residents to ask questions and seek answers. With early support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation via the Knight News Challenge, Public Lab formally launched as a nonprofit organization in summer of 2011.

Balloon Mapping of River Restoration at Mardi Gras Pass

January 2013: Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a valuable partner of Public Lab’s and wetlands watchdog group, has repeatedly used aerial mapping tools to advocate for wetlands restoration projects, and to keep community and partner organizations abreast of progress (or lack thereof). One specific instance was the use of kite photography to educate and agitate against the closure of a new branch of the Mississippi River, "Mardi Gras Pass." If left alone, this new distributary arm would feed protective marshes and swamps with nourishing sediment and water. More info can be found here: http://healthygulf.org/201301221984/blog/healthy-waters-/-dead-zone/save-mardi-gras-pass"

Ironton, LA, United Bulk Coal Terminal monitoring

With Public Lab training, tools, and support, Scott Eustis of Gulf Restoration Network (GRN), a Public Lab Organizer, and Devin Martin of Sierra Club, successfully captured low-altitude photos of ongoing coal export dumping in the Mississippi River. The images they captured of the coal pile that builds over time, changed GRN’s understanding of the extent of Oiltanking / United Bulk’s alleged environmental crimes and led to funding for further documentation and water quality analysis of this facility, culminating in a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act.

Although GRN had been passively monitoring this site via aircraft, the kite photo, because of its low-altitude and oblique angle, led to a new understanding that moved Louisiana DEQ to do a site visit. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, have prepared to sue to improve the facility and levy fines against the company for their damages to Louisiana’s waters. The image itself is one of a series of images in legal proceedings, but has more value than others taken from a plane because of its level of detail--it is used as an organizing tool to explain the most desirable picture for officially documenting Oiltanking’s water pollution crimes to volunteer pilots and GRN members who reside in the area. GRN, Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action, and Tulane Law, with Public Citizen, are currently in negotiations with the company.

Image from http://www.010collaborative.net

Jamaica Bay, NYC

Public Lab organizer Gena Wirth and Eymund Diegel, along with Rob Holmes of the Dredge Research Collaborative, conduct aerial imaging documentation on various restoration islands in Jamaica Bay. Aerial maps document progress on the Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore eroding salt marsh habitat with recycled dredge material, show shoreline and vegetation change over time, and document citizen participation in these efforts. Jamaica Bay’s Islands are in constant transformation. For decades, Yellow Bar hummock (pictured here) has been shrinking and losing ground due to intensifying urban impacts in the Jamaica Bay watershed. This pattern recently reversed course under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers, who use the island as a site to dispose of dredge material and as a test case for expanding ecosystems in decline.

Like much of Jamaica Bay the resulting landscape is neither fully industrial or fully natural, though it retains aesthetic and performative qualities of both. The flat expanse of newly constructed ground is composed of clean sand dredged from the Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel leading to the port of NY/NJ. Aerial maps reveal the regularized distribution of the complex marsh matrix of sediment, Spartina, and ribbed mussel, which grow together in a functional ecosystem and stabilize the marshland. Beyond the dotted fringe of cordgrass clumps our photos document the expansive island interior, touched by the Army Corps of Engineers in a more economical fashion with a grid of fences marking Spartina plug planting zones. Some mapping events have been led in partnership with the American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers.

Amherst, MA

Monitoring invasive aquatic plant removal with UMass Amherst, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pioneer Valley Open Science, using DIY multispectral aerial photography and balloon mapping kits. Aerial photographs of the lake effectively reveal the invasive water chestnut, as it is distinguishable by both color and texture at low altitudes. The goal is to use normal and color infrared images to locate patches of water chestnut as part of the much needed yearly monitoring to prevent the plant from spreading. Continued tech development is working on automated classification of NDVI images for a “one-click” solution for citizens monitoring invasive species in their waterways.

Saugus, MA

Public Lab worked on a multi-year project with Basurama.org to monitor the growth and treatment of ash at the open landfill bordering the Saugus waste incinerator, adjacent to both wetlands and residential areas, with annual DIY multispectral kite photography. By engaging residents of the Boston area in investigating where their waste ends up and how it is managed, the project raised local awareness and understanding of local waste cycles as well as of the toxicity and exposure issues related to the waste incineration process and the storage of ash. Recently, Public Lab Organizer, Pat Coyle has worked on a 3D (Surface From Motion (SFM)) reconstruction of the site using images collected from the kite photographers. Project lead, Pablo Rey Mazón, hopes to work towards connecting with volume measurement that other Public Labbers are researching, compare with official data and replicate the project with a similar trash incinerator in Bilbao.

Use of balloon mapping by the Craft Village in Kampala, Uganda to temporarily stall eviction proceedings. The goal was to gain time so the community could organize next steps and create a dialogue around urban planning and displacement. Using aerial mapping the Craft Market combined a high resolution map of the area with community narratives. Doing so, the Craft Market was able to legally stall eviction for a month by using the map to acquire a court injunction. They also interfaced with the Ministry of Tourism via the map they created, demonstrating their value to the tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism sent a team to evaluate the Market and tried to advocate to the Ministry of Land on behalf of the Market. In the end, the Ministry of Land went through with evicting the community. They decided to do a second map to record the progress of clearing and to document the lack of support during the eviction to demonstrate how the eviction displaced the previously flourishing market to a side street. Using this map, the Craft Market is still in the process of advocating their case. The map in MapKnitter can be found here: https://mapknitter.org/map/view/juakali. Text paraphrased from full research note.

Gowanus Low Altitude Mapping (GLAM), in the Gowanus Canal (Brooklyn, New York): Working with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus to conduct environmental investigations in the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site and broader watershed using aerial imagery. There are three distinct goals within GLAM: 1) researching biodiversity to better manage their urban ecosystems, 2) conducting eco-detective work to improve the government’s Superfund clean-up plan, and 3) advocating for watershed health by identifying upland sites that can be used for stormwater absorption to reduce downhill sewage overflow events in the canal. GLAM has succeeded in improving the Superfund clean-up plan: diligent investigation led to the discovery of an unknown freshwater inflow in the Gowanus First Street Basin, and their presentation to the EPA’s Community Advisory Group was so effective that Superfund restoration expanded to an additional city block. Additionally, through vigilant aerial surveying through ice and blazing sun, and subsequent analysis, GLAM identified four (4) active pipes and inflows that the EPA’s survey missed which is leading to other improvements in the clean-up plan. Other independent research projects to uncover historical Revolutionary War burial grounds have led to partnerships with the Brooklyn Preservation Council and the local VA (Veterans) chapter, as well as support from the Governor of Maryland and coverage in the NY Times.

Lee, NH, iFarm field trial monitoring: A multi-year project to document and quantify cover crop soil treatment and silvopasture trials using infrared photography, in conjunction with aerial mapping kits. This is part of a broader effort to develop data-driven analysis tools to support small-scale organic farmers, and is being pursued in partnership with Green Start, Farm Hack, Pioneer Valley Open Science, and the sustainable agriculture program at the University of New Hampshire. Through this work, collaborating farmers have gained a better understanding of the health of their crops, as well as a greater capacity for quantitatively and regularly assessing crop health at low cost. In addition to providing a compelling case study and proof of concept for the tools that are being developed through this work, the research has also produced new insights and initiated new projects -- such as more affordable and robust single-camera multispectral camera platforms -- and has paved the way for participants worldwide to more easily leverage and deploy these tools and techniques.

Testing at a Boston-area meetup helped to refine "do-it-yourself" methodologies for identifying different contaminant oils -- ranging from motor oil to tarballs washed ashore after a crude oil spill. Attendees to the event, hosted by the neighborhood education group Parts & Crafts, included local residents, as well as members of the Mystic River Watershed Association and Pioneer Valley Open Science. The prototype testing involved a new technique for distinguishing oil samples via florescence using an inexpensive blue laser pointer. The tests were successful, and the technique proved robust: it yielded consistently good results, despite slight variations in sample preparation. These methods show great promise, and will likely be included in our prototype oil contamination test kit. Follow progress on the oil testing kit here: http://publiclab.org/tag/oil-testing-kit.

East Providence, RI: Working with local residents and Northeastern University to use kite mapping kits to monitor a metal recycling center for code violations and contamination. This is a long, complex investigation involving legal battles. A neighborhood in East Providence, RI adjacent to a large construction waste grinding business has been experiencing toxic dust filtering into homes and yards from the plant. Many in the neighborhood suffer from respiratory and other health problems thought to be associated with the dust. Neighborhood activists managed (with Toxic Action Center's help) to have the waste grinding stopped. However, the same business owner re-opened the plant as a scrap metal processing operation, but with a permit that allows for limited operations under fifteen tons of wood products. The Balloon mapping during March 2013 was organized to document whether, after the waste grinding stopped, if unpermitted processing of materials other than wood started. Advocates have added detailed annotations to their aerial imagery to communicate about the issues on the ground and attempt to convince authorities to take some action against these illicit activities.

Plymouth, MA, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station mapping with Cape Cod Bay Watch: Using images collected via kite mapping, organizers are challenging the lack of a permit for new construction of a waste storage facility at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. Two mapping trips to date have given local residents, led by CCBW, the ability to keep themselves informed about the progress of the construction, in addition to generating images and a compelling story which has resulted in press coverage (WBUR Boston - NPR) for their monitoring and advocacy efforts. Image: Good image at above link Molly